A Kunoichi's Debt
by fascinatrix femina
Summary: [SasuSaku] Sakura's past came back to haunt her. Now, she'll have to correct her mistakes or let the guilt continue to eat her alive... [On hold]
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:  
**Sakura's past came back to haunt her. Now, she'll have to correct her mistakes or let the guilt continue to eat her alive...

**Disclaimer: **Naruto's not mine... okay?

**A/N:**

Hello, everyone! XD I'm back and bubbling with lots of Sasu/Saku love again! Hehehe! XD I miss you all so much! So... I am here to present you with a new story of mine... I hope you guys will like it as much as you like my other stories... I'm sorry to say that it's not going to be as humorous as my previous story... It'll focus more on the fluff between Sasuke and Sakura though!

Anyway... Please enjoy reading! XD

* * *

**A Kunoichi's Debt  
**by: fascinatrix femina

"Sakura, let's continue this tomorrow. You're dismissed now."

All the pain and exhaustion from the day's training rushed out of her mouth in the form of a heavy sigh of utmost relief. She eyed the clock, offering it a small smile of gratitude for it ended today's quite interesting, but unbelievably exhausting, training.

It annoyed her to feel this way, but for the past few weeks, most of their training always end up like this and she just couldn't help but feel...

"Sakura... I said you can go now."

Tired...

"Sakura?"

...so damn tired of calling her student's attention and stop her from training so damn long.

"Please," The said student, who was still too engrossed on the task at hand, finally answered. "won't you give me ten more minutes...? I almost got it!" Sakura cried out another plea, her third plea that afternoon. "Look, Tsunade-sama! The leg's nearly healed..."

A scowl formed on the Hokage's lips as she continued to watch her highly determined student from her desk. It's not that she didn't want Sakura to finish her training. In fact, she could leave her there and let her train until tomorrow if she wanted to...

The only reason why she wanted Sakura to give her training a rest already was because the girl had this tendency to push herself too hard! She resisted the urge to snort when she took notice of her student's already shaking hands.

She really should learn to stop when her body demands it...

_Kinda reminds me of my younger years._ Tsunade thought, a small grin making its way to her lips.

Time slowly ticked by and when the Godaime glanced at the clock again, she couldn't help but sigh again, this time, in irritation as she removed her chin from resting against her hand, which was cramping up already for waiting so long for her student to finish. "Sakura..."

Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't thinking of giving up anytime soon. Sweat trickled down at the side of her cheeks as she placed all her concentration on the injured kitten that was lying at the center of the large scroll.

_There's no way I'm stopping now! _Sakura thought in determination, even if her vision was starting to get blurry, her surroundlings swirling every now and then. "Only a little bit more..." Her brows furrowed and she couldn't help but bite her lip in worry when her outstretched hands protested by trembling uncontrollably.

She was aware that her body was getting tired... but she refuse to stop! She could do this! In fact, if she could just release a little more chakra then...

She nearly jumped into the air when a firm hand suddenly grasped her wrist, instantly breaking her concentration. She was met by the angry frown of the Hokage, who had a disapproving look on her face as she stared down at the surprised Sakura. "Sakura! Pushing yourself too hard won't do you any good. You, of all people, should know that!"

She wanted to protest, to defend herself, to say that she really could heal the injured animal now, but one look at the obviously upset Hokage made her think otherwise. Hiding her disappointment with an apologetic smile, she nodded and lowered her arms to the side.

She clenched her hands into fists. Darn it! Curse herself for getting tired so easily! She had to get stronger! She made a pact with herself that she wouldn't become a burden to her teammates anymore!

"Sakura." Her thoughts were cut off when Tsunade began to speak. Her voice was stern. "I understand what you're..."

"DAMN IT! Let me go! I wanna speak to the Hokage now!"

"Calm down, kid!"

Both heads turned towards the doors of the Hokage's office, which suddenly opened with a bang so loud it made the Godaime's vein twitch and nearly gave Sakura a heart attack. Two jounins burst out of the doors dragging a struggling young man, who kept on cursing and screaming at them to let him go. They marched in front of Lady Tsunade's desk and released the boy forcefully, which made him lose his balance and fall face-down on the floor.

"Damn you! Why did you do that for?" The young man, who had an abnormally spiky black hair and had his bangs dyed blood-red, looked up and glared murderously at the two jounins, who just shrugged and shared a weird look with the Hokage.

Wait a minute...! Sakura's brow furrowed in suspicion. Abnormally spiky black hair...? Red bangs...?

A cough from Lady Tsunade finally brought the guy's attention away from the two jounins. "Hmm... so you're the Hokage, huh?" The guy exclaimed, shock evident in his voice. He continued to study the Hokage's face until his eyes trailed down and settled on her teacher's... "Whoa... Huge..." He muttered, his eyes twinkling in amazement.

This time, it was Sakura's turn to get shocked. She couldn't believe that the guy actually had the guts to act **rudely** in front of the godaime!

"So... what business do you have here... **Runt?**" Sakura couldn't help but cringe when she heard the edge in her teacher's voice. Nobody, with the exception of a certain foxboy, talks that way in front of the Hokage and gets away with it!

Surprisingly enough, the guy immediately stood up straight. With a look of remorse, he bowed low and uttered, "I am so sorry for forgetting my manners, Hokage-sama..." There was no hint of malice in his tone. No sign that he was just fooling around. In fact, he sounded really sincere with his apology...

But even so... Sakura wasn't convinced.

_I think I know this guy..._ Sakura almost thought out loud as she studied the young man before her. This time, she allowed herself to study his appearance, his weird-looking hair, his black eyes, that rugged-looking face...

He seemed so... familiar.

"I came from Samara village." The guy continued, his head still bowed low. "And I really need your help, Hokage-sama. My brother is in grave danger and...!"

"Junko...?" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and the name flew out of Sakura's mouth before she had the chance to stop it.

The young man instantly looked up when he heard that his name was uttered. From the way he was acting, Sakura realized that if she hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have noticed that someone else was in the room besides him, the Hokage, and the two jounins.

When he directed his gaze at her and saw the recognition finally dawned upon his face, Sakura knew all too well that she was in for some **trouble.**

"You...!" He exclaimed, his eyebrows rising in shock. All his gentlemanly manners were instantly thrown aside. "You... **BITCH!**"

* * *

Like before, it was just another typical and busy morning in Konoha. The members of team 7 were gathered at the park, ready for another mission, a mission in which Sasuke was having this gut-feeling that it would probably be a really worthless one yet again. Two days ago, their sensei had instructed to meet the three of them at the park at exactly eight o'clock in the morning. 

And they have been waiting patiently for almost an hour already...

Just what was taking so long for their female teammate to arrive?

"Sakura-chan's late... I wonder what happened...? You think she's sick or something?"

Sasuke remained silent, still listening to Naruto's rambles but not wanting to answer his blonde teammate's non-stop questions. Besides, he knew that Naruto wasn't exactly expecting an answer from him anyway. With a small sigh, he closed his eyes for a while as he leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree, his arms crossed over his chest.

They didn't bother wondering where their sensei was because he always makes it a habit to arrive much later than the exact time. Sakura, however...

The dobe was right. The young Uchiha opened his eyes and stared hard at the ground. Where was she? It wasn't like Sakura to be this late...

Not that he cared that much, of course. He just wanted to get their mission over and done with so he could finally go back to his** real** training.

"Huh? Hey, hey, look! It's that stupid-looking guy again!" Naruto, who was lazily lying down on the grass with his arms under his head, exclaimed all of a sudden and bolted upright, disturbing the Uchiha's thoughts in the process. "What's he doing there and where's he going anyway?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, irritated at the foxboy for butting in on other people's business and also for acting so much like a nosy kid. He snorted, not caring what suddenly got the dobe's attention and continued his staring match with the ground.

Besides, stupid-looking guys are quite popular around here in Konoha nowadays... Naruto should know that, since he's practically **one** of them...

"He's that jerk from yesterday who didn't say sorry when he crashed into me and made me spill my ramen all over my shirt! Damn him, I'll make him pay!" Naruto stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants. He was about to step forward, ready to teach the guy a lesson or two, when something caught his attention. "Eh? That girl's weird... Why in the world would she want to go with someone like..." Much to Sasuke's surprise, the foxboy suddenly stopped babbling.

This led Sasuke to look up in order to see what was wrong and what made the dobe shut his mouth up all of a sudden.

His gaze followed the direction where Naruto was looking at and found him staring at a two people on the other side of the street just near the gates leading outside Konoha. Sasuke had to admit, he had never seen a guy who had such a wild and abnormally spiky black hair until now. And what where those in front of his face? Red bangs?

Red bangs...?

Something struck inside Sasuke's mind. A distant memory. _This guy... He's familiar..._

"Hey..." Naruto said, his eyes widening in surpirse. "That girl... is that... Sakura-chan?"

One good look at the girl's short pink hair was enough proof that the girl really **was** their female teammate.

But before either of them could take a step forward and have a word with Sakura, Kakashi suddenly appeared right in front of them, his book in hand along with a big puff of grey smoke. "So... where are you guys heading off to now?" He asked lazily in a way of greeting his students.

Naruto, probably too caught up at seeing Sakura hanging out with a stranger instead of meeting with her sensei and her teammates, completely forgot to do the usual routine, which was to angrily demand why their sensei was late yet again. Instead, the young Uchiha noted the way the foxboy's mouth curled into a frown as he looked up at their sensei and pointed at the direction where they found Sakura and the other... **familiar-looking**... guy talking with each other.

"Hm?" Kakashi followed the place where Naruto was pointing at and, much to both of his students' surprise, just simply shrugged. "_That's_ what I was about to tell you two about..." Sasuke could tell that he was grinning under his mask. "Sakura won't be joining us for today's mission."

"Say WHAT?" Naruto gritted his teeth, obviously upset at the news. "Why? Because of rooster-head over there?"

"Actually... yes." The masked-jounin answered as the three of them watched their only female teammate slung her backpack over her shoulder and made a move to follow her companion, who had left the gates already. He didn't even bother to wait for her at all.

The dark-haired Uchiha's eyes narrowed into slits. From the way that guy was acting, it was af if he wanted to **leave** her behind...

"...reason why she won't be joining us for a while." Sasuke diverted his thoughts away from the retreating couple and turned to listen to his teacher, who was still explaining about Sakura's temporary absence. It seemed like she was given a special task by Lady Tsunade, and it might take a while before she comes back...

In other words, they waited and worried about her for nothing then.

"How come Sakura-chan didn't even say goodbye...?" Naruto muttered under his breath, sounding hurt. Unconsciously, Sasuke stole a glance at the direction where their female teammate disappeared to.

He couldn't help but scowl.

Kakashi seemed to hear the gloomy tone in Naruto's voice for he quickly answered, "Her companion's kind of in a hurry, so she didn't get the chance to say goodbye to you guys."

"Damn that rooster-head..." The foxboy cursed, his mood now completely ruined. "Stealing Sakura-chan from us like that..." He grumbled on and on, testing Sasuke's patience.

Honestly enough, for Sasuke, it's quite a comfort that he won't be able to see her for a while. She had been annoying him for the past few weeks, and it wasn't because she was tailing after him or asking him out on dates.

So, why was she annoying then? He wasn't sure...

...and that was the reason why she was annoying.

"Let's just start the mission." The Uchiha prodigy quipped in, annoyed at the dobe's loud whining and also irritated at the fact that they were just standing there and wasting precious time.

In truth, he wanted to tell Naruto to shut up, to stop acting so damn miserable just because Sakura's not gonna be joining their mission for today.

They should be perfectly fine without Sakura. And besides, it's not like Sakura's not coming back for a very long time. Surely enough, she should be back after two days or so...

...right?

* * *

**A/N:**

So... uhh... what do you guys think? Should I continue it or not? This week's gonna be one hell of a week for me because of school, so I doubt it if I'll be able to post the next chapter this week...

Which means... this'll give you guys enough time to decide whether I should continue this crappy stuff or not! Hehehe! XD

Oh, and by the way, thank you so much for all the people who read and reviewed "Mission Impossible?" **You don't know how much I love all of you for supporting my story!**

Thanks again for reading! I promise I'll make it enjoyable to read as much as I can... See you guys soon again!

Sa mga minamahal kong kabayan! Maraming, maraming salamat po sa pagsuporta! Woohoo! LOL! XD


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Naruto is **NOT** mine

**A/N:**

Uhh... I'm so very sorry for the late update... I just didn't expect that there will be a lot of reviews saying that I should continue this story... I didn't have this story planned out. Since you want me to continue, I finished doing the outline first before finishing writing the next chapter! XD

...And then... I got addicted on other things again... but I'll explain it later after you read this chapter. XD

* * *

Sakura sighed sadly, for even the warm rays of the sun that welcomed both her and Junko as they entered the forest didn't change the tense atmosphere that still lingered between the two of them. It was a shame, really, because the forest was bustling with so much life that it could make just about anyone want to be happy and smile for no reason at all. 

Frowning seemed like a sin... and yet, that was what Sakura was doing. And it was all because of...

"I didn't recognize you... because of that damn haircut of yours." Junko suddenly shouted grimly over his shoulder. He continued to walk ahead, not bothering to look back and see if his female companion was still following.

Sakura, surprised that Junko finally said something to her after an hour of walking together in complete silence, was speechless when she heard his voice.

His tone still sounded bitter.

This made her cringe inwardly. She didn't expect that he was still angry with her after all this time...

_He sure hadn't changed much..._ Sakura pondered quietly as she studied him from behind. Obviously, he hadn't bothered changing the style of his hair, for it was still... **unique**. And his style of clothing was still the same as before. Both his shirt and pants were still black, as if he was going to go and pay his respects to the dead or something...

She briefly wondered if his attitude had...

"Damn it! Hurry up, will you?** Fuck!** I came for Lady Tsunade's help and I got the useless wench instead!" Junko exclaimed angrily as he threw his hands into the air in frustration.

Sakura sighed, her thoughts confirmed. Yup. His attitude was the same as before...

_Then again,_ Sakura realized grimly, her hands clenching into fists. _He became like that because of me. It was my fault why his trust..._

"If it weren't for my damn brother, I wouldn't dream of letting you come to our fucking village." He muttered under his breath, but still loud enough for her to hear. "Still, I didn't expect you to become the Hokage's student." He snorted before continuing to piss her off even more. "She's just **wasting** her time on you, you know."

His laugh grated Sakura's nerves and it made her glare murderously at him, her green eyes burning him with supressed hatred.

Oh, if only looks could kill...

Her mouth instinctively opened to shout at him, to make him pay for talking to her like that, but... Her guilt for what had happened that fateful day stopped her. It was still nagging at her, making her feel that she really deserved every bit of his anger.

_No..._ Sakura shook her head and looked at Junko in determination. _I'm a different person now. _The past flashed before her eyes, forcing her to grit her teeth. _There's no way I'll let something like **that** to happen again!_

The rest of their journey towards Samara village was spent in complete silence. Sakura didn't expect him to talk anymore and didn't bother initiating a friendly conversation with him since she knew that it would only lead to something bad, or something that she would regret, anyway.

Besides... She'd rather talk to a rock than talk to a foul-mouthed jerk like him!

Sakura mentally slapped herself for thinking that way about Junko. She reminded herself that it was **her** fault why he was acting like that and it should be **her** who should patch things up between them!

Just as she was about to open her mouth and say something **nice** to Junko, they finally arrived at the village.A wave of familiarity instantly struck Sakura as soon as she laid eyes upon the busy streets of Samara village. It was still the same as ever, still bustling with so many people busy doing their own business in every corner of the streets, which were filled with so many different shops and stalls.

But what really caught Sakura's attention was the mansion-like house that stood up like a sore thumb among the hundreds of houses in the village. The houses surrounding it were practically nothing compared to its beauty, for the house was designed in a way that makes just about anyone to stop for a while and gape at its marvelous structure.

In fact, she still couldn't believe that Junko was lucky enough to live in a huge house like **that**!

It took a few more minutes before the both of them arrived in front of the two towering gates of Junko's mansion. Even if Sakura had come here before, she still couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy...

"Listen up, girl..." Junko disturbed her train of thoughts when he suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at her, his black eyes boring deeply into hers. "You'd better** not** screw this mission up again or else..." He said before threatening her with a glare. "I **won't** go easy on you... even if you're a girl."

Sakura was taken aback at his words, but she didn't allow him the oppurtunity to see her surprise. Instead, she pursed her lips into a grim line, struggling to not let her anger overcome her senses. "Don't underestimate me... " She tried to hold herself back, to prevent him from seeing her fury or the way her pride was hurting. "I'm not the girl whom you used to know..."

The two stayed rooted at the spot for a long time, both glaring intensely at each other, neither of them wanting to back down.

"Tch. You'd **better** be right, wench." Junko spat eventually and finally averted his gaze from her. With a snort, he turned his back on her and gestured the guards to open the gates.

Sakura remained silent as she kept her gaze on his back, her hands clenching into tight fists.

_I'll show you... I'm gonna finish this mission even if it's the last thing I'll do._

The gates slowly opened with a screeching noise, and Sakura could feel her heart thumping wildly in her ears. She didn't know why she was feeling so nervous all of a sudden, but somehow, her instincts told her that she wouldn't like what she was about to see inside...

Indeed, for when the gates opened and revealed what was on the other side of the gates, Sakura couldn't help but let out a gasp, her eyes nearly bulging out of its sockets as soon as she saw what was in front of her.

_What in the world...?_

* * *

"Damn that Sasuke... Who does he think he is, anyway?" Naruto was furious, so furious in fact that he couldn't stop himself from mouthing colorful curses under his breath as he jumped off from tree to tree, scaring the birds or other animals resting on top of every tree he landed on in the process. 

"Naruto!" His unbearably bossy teammate hissed angrily at him from behind. "Shut up or we won't be able to find them!" He could feel Sasuke's glare piercing his back, irritating him even more as they sped off deeper inside the woods.

If only he could stop, turn around, and meet his teammate's glare with his **own** intense glare. He'll give Sasuke a glare so intense, it will crush his damnable ego right into the bowels of the earth!

Literally.

Because of his stormy mood, Naruto didn't realize that he was making too much noise with his non-stop grumblings again, making the animals in the forest grow restless, **including** the ones they were hunting.

By the time Naruto realized his carelessness, Sasuke already lost his patience with him and let out a curse. "Let's just split up." Sasuke told him in a commanding tone with a hint of irritation in his voice. "I'll go find the remaining monkeys and you go guard the ones we caught back at camp."

_Eh? Guard the monkeys back at camp?_

The fox boy immediately protested. "What? No way!" No way in hell he'd go back to camp and be near to those damn "monsters" again! "**I'll** go find the monkeys and **you** go back to camp!"

Ealier that morning, Kakashi had given both Naruto and Sasuke the task to help the traveling circus clean up the stage after their last performance here in Konoha, but... as much as Naruto hated to admit it, due to his childish fascination about monkeys, he had accidentally left the monkeys' cages open and let the monkeys escape.

Now, because of the furious demand of the circus master, Kakashi had ordered them to help the circus people gather up the missing monkeys.

Naruto frowned at the memory. It wasn't **really** his fault! Who would have thought that those seemingly innocent and cute circus monkeys could be so... so...!

Unconsciously, he looked down at his arms, which were filled with scratches and bruises, and remembered the pain that he had to go through when he tried a futile attempt to catch those fucking "monsters" by himself...

Hunting for these said "monsters" had been quite a feat, but both him and Sasuke had been able to successfully catch most of the monkeys and lock them up in their cages. Now, only two monkeys were left and, according to some freaked-out people whom they passed by, these monkeys had gone to the direction of the woods.

Naruto groaned in frustration. He still couldn't get over the fact that those monkeys managed to **trick** him into opening their cages and letting them run off into the forest...

And then, Sasuke's gonna piss him off even more with his damn arrogance and bossy attitude!

"We won't get **anywhere** if you're here making all that racket!" Sasuke snapped back at him, clearly irritated. "Just shut up and go back to camp. And try not to act like a dobe for once or those damn monkeys might try to outwit you again."

So that was it! Sasuke was trying to get rid of him! The fox boy whipped his head at the Uchiha and scowled. "What the **hell** did you just say, you--!"

"**Move!**" Before Naruto could do anything, he felt someone shove him to the side, making him lose his balance. His eyes widened for a second as he felt himself falling dangerously to the ground. It was lucky for him that his fast reflexes kicked in and he was able to land safely on the ground without breaking any of his bones.

He was just about to demand as to why the hell did Sasuke do that to him for when he saw him land just a few meters in front of him, his dark eyes alert. He was staring at something from his right. Naruto followed his gaze and his senses caught some rustlings from the leaves and several trees surrounding them.

There were rustlings and some sort of squeaking sounds coming from around him, too. He glanced at his left, just in time to see something brown... and small...

"Okay." Sasuke started, his voice regaining its usual commanding tone. "**You** go right. Stay focused, dobe."

There he goes again... Just who the hell **died** and made **him** the leader of this team? "Stop calling me dobe! And why would **I **go right? And **whose** right, anyway? **My** right?"

Sasuke, who was about to get ready to run off, stopped and gave him a very annoyed look. "I don't care! **My** right."

Naruto frowned, not liking to be bossed around. "**Your** right? Why **yours**?"

"Fine! **Your** right!" Sasuke exclaimed in frustration and was about to leave when he realized with a curse that the forest had grown silent, meaning that the monkeys had escaped... again. "You idiot. It got away." The Uchiha prodigy muttered to him with a curse, his hands clenching into fists.

"**What?**" Naruto couldn't believe it! Why in the world was he blaming him now?

Sasuke didn't spare him a glance as he continued to look ahead. "If only Sak--" He suddenly stopped, as if surprised that he almost let a thought slip out of his mouth. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him in confusion, but before he could ask his teammate what he was about to say, Sasuke disappeared and ran off deeper inside the forest again, leaving him behind.

It was Naruto's time to curse, a foul expression plastered on his face. He was getting really irritated now. He had a feeling that they wouldn't get this job done anytime soon...

_If only Sakura-chan was here..._

And so, the two ninjas continued to hunt for the missing monkeys for next couple of hours. By the time they finished the incredibly exhausting mission, it was already late afternoon, with the two of them looking tired and as dirty as hell. Both Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the bridge to meet up with Kakashi, who tore his gaze away from his book and looked down at them, a smile on his masked face.

"Congratulations, guys. The circus master was pleased." Kakashi told his students. It did nothing to lighten up their dark moods.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto whined after plopping down into the ground in exhaustion. He never want to see another monkey ever again! "When will Sakura-chan come back?" He was missing her and he was sure that Kakashi and Sasuke were missing her, too, even if they didn't care to admit it. "It has been **five days** already since she left and we **still** haven't heard anything from her. Not even once!"

Kakashi grew silent for a moment, apparently lost in thought. Naruto hoped that he would say that Sakura would come home tomorrow, but he could see it in his face that they still wouldn't hear anything from her. At least not anytime soon...

_Curse that old granny Tsunade for pushing Sakura-chan too hard!_

"So, Sakura's absence the reason why it takes so long for you guys to finish your missions?" Kakashi asked with a lifted eyebrow. From what the foxboy could tell from their teacher's expression, he was trying hard not to grin at both of them.

Naruto wanted to yell a yes, but remembered that Sasuke's attitude was also becoming unbearable for him to handle all by himself these days...

"Let's go visit Sakura and see how she's doing then."

Naruto's ears perked up at the idea and for the first time that god awful day, his mouth formed into really wide smile. "Tomorrow! Let's go visit her tomorrow!"

Seeing Sakura would brighten up his day for sure!

* * *

"Whoa! This place is huge!" 

It was early afternoon when the three of them arrived at Samara village and in front of the huge estate where Sakura was in. Naruto gaped at the towering gates in awe, and Sasuke could only shake his head at him for acting like a child.

Although he had to admit, the place **was** impressive and quite... familiar...

"You know what? I think I've been in this place before..." Sasuke heard Naruto mutter to them, his eyes squinted and there was a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You really **have** been here before. I'm surprised that you've forgotten this place already..." Kakashi told him, his voice turning unusually serious. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at their teacher and his sudden change of mood.

"Eh? Really?" Naruto was still clueless, but it didn't stop the young Uchiha from figuring out why this place and the weird-looking guy whom they saw Sakura with a few days ago seemed so familiar to him.

Just then, a thought clicked inside his mind, the past rushing in his eyes like a flash. His first thought was...

"Sakura." Her name rushed out of his mouth before he had the chance to stop it.

"So you've remembered, eh Sasuke?" Kakashi noted with a sad smile.

The dark-haired prodigy nodded. _No wonder this place looks so familiar..._

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto, who was oblivious to both his and Kakashi's conversation, was startled when he heard him blurt out her name all of a sudden. He looked around, hoping to see their female teammate. "Where?"

"Speaking of Sakura..." Kakashi turned to look at the side and stared at something, or someone, right across the street. Sasuke followed his gaze and saw their female teammate slowly approaching them. She was staring at the ground with her shoulders slumped, as if she was in deep thought or something.

He frowned. He then noticed that her posture was awkward. To his surprise, without warning, she started to wobble...

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto, as soon as he laid eyes on Sakura, was delighted and waved his hand frantically into the air in a way of greeting. Sasuke realized that if Naruto hadn't called her attention, he doubt it if she would notice that the three of them were waiting for her outside her patient's gates.

She looked up, but before she could do anything else, smile or greet them with a wave of her hand or whatsoever,

...she fainted.

* * *

**A/N:**

Oh no! What happened to Sakura-chan? Teehee! XD Sorry for the cliffhanger! Couldn't help myself... -is shot for the lame excuse-

Anyway... the next chapter's probably gonna be up... err... this week? I have no idea when, actually... but I'll still try to update as soon as I can! I mean...since I've finished writing the outline of this, it'll be much easier for me to write! Hehehe! XD

By the way... does anyone here play DOTA? Defence of the Ancients? XD Mga kabayan, alam ko marami kayong naglalaro nun! Hehehe! XD It's my newest addiction! I'm still new at it, but I'll practice really hard so I can beat the guys at school and show them that even us girls can play DOTA! Hehehehehe! XD

Oh! And I have a little gift to all SasuSaku fans out there! It's just a little fanart of mine... Nothing big... but if you have the time, you can take a look at it at my profile page! XD

Thank you very much for reading! And Advance Merry Christmas to all of you! -kisses and hugs everyone-


End file.
